No abstract provided. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of Durban-Westville, 2002.

South Africa's re-integration into the global trading economy and its participation in various trade agreements has resulted in an increase in the number of import and export transactions processed by the South African Revenue Services Customs Division. Importers and Exporters are expanding into new markets and regions, which require them to adhere to the legislative administrative requirements, enforced at the various designated Customs branch offices. To achieve Customs compliance, it is necessary that importers and exporters make the correct declaration to the SARS and make available the appropriate documentary information to support import and export transactions. Also, increasing pressure from other government authority and government agencies makes it a prerequisite that any goods cleared for either import and export is properly declared taking cognisance of all Acts enforced by the SARS Customs Division. This research dissertation is aimed at identifying the key factors that impact the SARS Accreditation Scheme / Program to both legitimate and illegitimate traders, it evaluates the benefits of the Accreditation program and determines what actions that are required by the SARS and traders to improve the levels of client service and Customs enforcement by the SARS Customs Division. Based on the analysis, the discrepancy between the current service expectation of the SARS Accreditation Scheme and service delivery by the SARS Customs Division urgently needs to be reviewed in light of Customs enforcement and Customs trade facilitation practices. / Thesis (MBA)-University of Natal, 2003.

M.Comm. / Herstelwerk vorm 'n belangrike gedeelte van die koste-struktuur van ondernemers. Natuurlike verwering en agteruitgang het tot gevolg dat herstelwerk aan sekere bates gedoen word. Meeste persone het 'n persepsie wat herstelwerk verteenwoordig. Die persepsie van wat ondernemers beskou as herstelwerk is nie noodwendig in ooreenstemming met artikel 11(d) van die Wet nie asook toetste wat deur die howe neergele is nie. Ten einde 'n sinvolle uiteensetting te verskaf was dit nodig om die onderwerp in sinvolle komponente te verdeel. Die inleidende paragraaf tot artikel 11 is eers ontleed aangesien dit ook die inleidende paragraaf tot artikel 11(d) – wat handel oor herstelwerk -verteenwoordig. Vervolgens is artikel 11(d) van die Wet ontleed ten einde die studie in konteks te plaas. Die begrip van herstelkoste is daarna ontleed en 'n onderskeid is gemaak met faktore wat kan dui op 'n verbetering. Die invloed van koste op beslissings is ook ondersoek. Met betrekking tot die inleidende paragraaf van artikel 11 is gevind dat "belasbare inkomste" bereken word deur van "bruto inkomste" vrystellings (soos in artikel 10 van die Wet uiteengesit) of te trek en daarna die ander aftrekkings soos in die Wet uiteengesit. Een van hierdie aftrekkings is herstelwerk wat in artikel 11(d) van die Wet uiteengesit word en die onderwerp van hierdie studie is. Aangesien hierdie "belasbare inkomste" deur 'n "persoon" verdien moet word is hierdie begrip ontleed. Daar is gevind dat die begrip "persoon" 'n afdelingsraad, munisipale raad, dorpsbestuur of derglike gesag; 'n maatskappy (of beslote korporasie); enige liggaam van persone, 'n natuurlike persoon; 'n vereniging van persone; die boedel van 'n oorlede persoon; 'n insolvente boedel en 'n trust insluit. Voordat 'n aftrekking toegestaan kan word om "belasbare inkomste" te bereken moet 'n "persoon" 'n bedryf "beoefen". Daar is vasgestel dat beoefen `n daadwerklike optrede moet wees en dat die "persoon" homself daarop moet toele. In die studie is gevind dat die begrip "bedryf' baie wyd is en nie uitputtend is nie. Daar is wel 'n omskrywing in artikel 1 tot die Wet maar die vraag of 'n bedryf beoefen word moet op grond van die feite beslis word. Met betrekking tot artikel 11(d) is eerstens gevind dat "onkoste" en "uitgawes" dieselfde betekenis het. Daar is vervolgens bevind dat daar 'n onvoorwaardelike regsaanspreeklikheid in die jaar van aanslag moet wees voordat die onkoste as 'n aftrekking toegelaat sal word. Alhoewel daar nie hofsake is wat handel oor die betekenis van "eiendom" ingevolge die spesifieke bepalings van artikel 11(d) nie word die afleiding gemaak dat dit verwys na geboue. Dit is 'n vereiste dat die eiendom of vir bedryfsdoeleindes geokkupeer moet word Of die eiendom moet in staat wees om inkomste voor te bring.

Tax practitioners in South Africa have been operating in an unregulated tax industry. This has allowed certain tax practitioners to fail in their duties to their clients, as many do not have to abide by any code of conduct or ethical principles, to the detriment of the public. Other than the provisions in the Income Tax Act, 58 of 1962, there has been no regulation. As a result of losses suffered by taxpayers either through the incompetence, ignorance or negligence of a tax practitioner, as substantiated by case law, and increased costs borne by the South African Revenue Services due to unnecessary queries and tax disputes, the Minister of Finance, Trevor Manuel, introduced the concept of tax industry regulation in his Budget Speech in 2002. This resulted in the introduction of section 67 A into the Income Tax Act, providing for a registration process for tax practitioners. All practising tax practitioners were required to register with the Commissioner for the South African Revenue Services by 30 June 2005. In addition, a discussion paper was issued in 2002 setting out the proposal of the Revenue Services to regulate the tax industry through the formation of an Association of Tax Practitioners. This proposal includes various contentious issues and casts significant doubt on whether the proposed model is the most suitable. The goal of the research was therefore to evaluate the current status of tax advisory services in order to demonstrate the need for regulation and to compare the proposed SARS model with two established regulatory authorities: the Estate Agency Affairs Board and the Australian Tax Agents Board. A conceptual model for regulation was developed in order to test all the models against a simple regulatory framework to determine whether each was aligned to certain best practices proposed in this framework. The research methodology was qualitative in nature, involving the critical interpretation of documentary data and data generated during a public discussion forum of tax practitioners. It was concluded that the SARS proposal is too prescriptive and, at the same time, too broad in its scope. In order to address the key objective, identified as protection of the taxpaying public, a simplified regulation procedure was recommended, which would adhere to the proposed regulatory framework. / KMBT_363

From Introduction: This work considers the period from Union, 31 May 1910 until promulgation of the Income Tax Act No. 40 of 1925.(1) It will describe the means, both financial and otherwise, by which the fledgling Government of the Union of South Africa contrived to balance its budget, and will consider the various sources of revenue available up to 1914, when the Government of Gen. Louis Botha first decided that a tax on income was necessary in order to maintain the solvency of the new State. Similarly the political pressures which shaped the nature of the Income Tax Acts up to 1925 will be discussed, and the political principles (or expediencies, depending on the degree of cynicism of the reader) which led the parties in power from time to time to make the decisions they did regarding the provisions of the various Acts. The effect of external political situations such as the Great War of 1914 - 1918 will be examined, as will the consequences of the rebellion of 1914 and the strikes of 1913 and 1922. The legislation predictably spawned a considerable body of litigation as taxpayers hastened to find and exploit loopholes in it; the resultant Income Tax Cases, in the Income Tax Special Court, Supreme Court and Appeal Court, formed the embryo of a body of judicial precedent which today encompasses some two thousand case reports. A few of the cases decided in the period up to 1925 are still quoted today; for example, CIR v Lunnon 1924 AD 1 SATC 7. The relevant cases from the period will enjoy consideration, with descriptions of how their verdicts affected either subsequent income tax principles or later legislation. Also considered will be the inception during this period of the way in which income tax legislation largely develops: the legislature promulgates an Act, the taxpayers discover legitimate ways to reduce their tax burden and the Minister of Finance consequently causes the Act to be changed in order to protect the tax base. Thereupon the resolute taxpayers seek loopholes anew. The effect of economic conditions on income tax legislation will engage attention; several such conditions cast their shadows into the House of Assembly during that 15 year period, notably the post-war recession and the drought of 1919. The selection of this period is apposite for several reasons: it covers the period during which income tax legislation came into being; - it includes several notable political occurrences. thus making possible a consideration of their effect on income tax legislation; it includes a natural cataclysm. namely a major drought. which also had an effect on subsequent Income Tax Acts; - a sufficient number of income tax cases was heard during the period to afford a fair indication both of how the body of case law would develop and how it would perpetually interplay with the legislation; it clearly illustrates the differences between the two great political parties of the time, differences largely caused by the vested interests of each; the dominant South African Party, with its need to retain the support of the commercial and particularly the mining sectors, and the smaller but even then growing National Party with its face set firmly towards the rural constituencies and the embattled farmers; - the period culminates in the Income Tax Act of 1925, a significant change from its predecessors, and the second Income Tax Act of the Pact Government. The imposition of taxes by the respective provinces does not form part of this work, as the scope of the discussion is limited to the various Income Tax Acts, and their development has been overseen by the central government.

In this thesis the tax treatment of equity option contracts is examined. The writer gives an overview of the derivatives market in general and discusses the nature and effect of equity options in detail. Limited amendments have been made to the South African Income Tax Act No 58 of 1962 ('the Act') since the emergence of derivative instruments and at present only three types of derivative instruments are recognised: forward exchange and option contracts relating to forward exchange, interest rate swaps based on notional capital amounts and option contracts. Other than section 241 of the Act which deems all receipts and accruals from foreign exchange contracts to be income, the other sections dealing with derivatives do not concern themselves with capital or revenue classification. Accordingly, the classification of receipts and accruals arising from an equity option transaction is generally governed by the ordinary principles of South African tax law with the added problem of there being limited South African case law applying these general prinCiples to such transactions. The research undertaken in this thesis results in the establishment of a framework designed to determine the classification as revenue or capital the receipts and accruals arising from equity option contracts. Speculating, trading and investing in equity options is examined with regard to the general principles of South African tax and available case law. Hedging transactions are analysed with specific reference to their exact nature as well as general tax principles and available case law. The analogy of Krugerrands is used to draw parallels with the tax treatment of receipts and accruals arising from equity options used for hedging purposes. Once the theoretical framework has been established for revenue or capital classification, the actual tax treatment of both revenue and capital receipts is examined with reference to the Act and issues such as the gross income definition, the general deduction formula, trading stock and timing provisions are analysed and applied to receipts and accruals arising from equity option transactions. The thesis concludes with a summary of the findings and recommendations are made based on the research conducted.

The purpose of this treatise was to examine the fairness and efficacy of the penalty provisions in the Tax Administration Act (the Act). An integrative literature review research method was used. The study commenced with a review of the local and international literature on tax compliance and the fairness and efficacy of penalties. This was followed by a study of the stated objectives of the Fiscus in respect of the strategy and approach to maintaining and improving taxpayer compliance and an analysis of the penalty regime of the Act. A comparative analysis was then performed of the relevant taxing legislation of five countries, which were chosen using a purposeful sample selected from the major trading partners of the Republic and countries with a similar tax framework. Following this, a review was performed of a cross section of the most recent tax related court cases in South Africa in order to assess the extent, consistency and fairness of the application of the penalty provisions. The study then concluded with an integrated assessment of the fairness and efficacy of the penalty provisions in light of the research conducted, and highlighted areas where the legislation appears to meet this objective, followed by recommendations for amendments in respect of policy and implementation. Finally recommendations were made for areas of further research which might improve the validity of the conclusions with respect to the stated objectives of the present research and to inform policy formulation.

Moneymaking schemes such as prostitution, drug dealing, fraud, corruption, pyramid schemes and the sale of counterfeit goods have been around for years. The taxing of these transactions/schemes has become a contentious issue. It has recently been reported in the press that SARS has lodged a claim for R183 million in income taxes against the estate of the slain mining magnate, Brett Kebble, in respect of the R2 billion allegedly stolen by him from the mining companies of which he was a director.4 It is further reported that the Master of the High Court has rejected the claim on the grounds that the amounts on which SARS sought to levy tax constituted money stolen by Kebble, and that stolen money is not subject to income tax. It has been reported that SARS is to take the Master’s decision in this regard on review.5 The Kebble case raises an interesting and unresolved tax issue and, in view of the large sum at stake, it may be a case that will go all the way to the Supreme Court of Appeal and bring long-overdue certainty to the law. The Income Tax Act No. 58 of 1962 (the Act) is of no assistance in determining the issue. Section 23(o) states that payments that are illegal in terms of Chapter 2 of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act No. 12 of 2004 or that constitute a fine or penalty for any “unlawful activity carried out in the Republic or in any other country if that activity.

Section 12N, introduction into the Income Tax Act by way of Taxation Laws Amendment Act and which became effective on 2 November 2010, provides for allowances on the leasehold improvements on government-owned land and land leased from certain tax exempt entities as stipulated in section 10 (1) (cA) and (t). As section 12N deems the lessee to be the owner of the leasehold improvement, the lessee now qualifies for capital allowances which were previously disallowed.

LL.M. (Tax Law) / This dissertation seeks to analyse the phrase “carrying on a trade” in the context of South African income tax law. South African income tax law places emphasis on the phrase “carrying on a trade”. The Income Tax Act 58 of 1962 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”) makes reference to the phrase in several different contexts. Trading is relevant to the tax treatment of both income (the amount that falls in the gross income of the taxpayer) and expenditure (the amount that qualifies for deduction). The importance of “carrying on a trade” within the income tax law can be seen in light of the following provisions of the Act that form the crux of this dissertation: section 1 defines trade; section 7 provides for the treatment of income from the trade of spouses married in community of property; section 11 deals with deductions; section 20(1) deals with setting off of assessed losses; section 23(g) deals with deductions not permitted in terms of the Act; and section 24H deals with the treatment of income derived by a partner carrying on a trade in a partnership. It is important to note that though it is not explicitly mentioned in the Act, the revenue receipts or accruals arising out of trade are included in the taxpayer's gross income provided that the trade constitutes a scheme of profit-making. Section 11(a) of the Act contains what is often described as the general deduction